What non ducted bathroom fan for apartment?

[blodynlisa]

I have a bathroom I an old apartment without a fan. I need to put one in but not sure what type.

It cannot be ducted (need approval to put hole in wall) and not window (too small). Being an apartment the roof cavity is small. 

What type should I buy?

[MitchellMc]

Hi @blodynlisa, 

All bathroom exhaust fans need to be able to exhaust the humid air out of the room. Unlike rangehoods, there are no recirculating models.

If you cannot duct through a wall or window, the only remaining option is usually ducting up into a properly ventilated roof space or an approved exhaust shaft, and that can only happen with body corporate approval. Venting into a small cavity between apartments is not allowed. This is why the best next step is to ask your body corporate what other units have done, because most older apartment blocks do have an approved method in place for adding ventilation. Once you know what is allowed, you can choose a standard ceiling exhaust fan that matches the airflow requirement and run the ducting to wherever the building permits. Without an approved path to outside or a ventilated space, a fan simply will not solve steam and mould issues, so checking with the body corporate will give you the clearest way forward.

Once we know the options for venting, we can suggest suitable exhaust fans.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[AlanM52]

Hi @blodynlisa,

Does the bathroom have any sort of passive ceiling vent?

I ask that because Google AI reports:

Yes, old apartment buildings in Victoria were required to have ventilation in bathrooms, which could be a window or a mechanical vent system. However, the specific requirements for how this ventilation was achieved, especially for mechanical systems, have changed over time, with recent updates requiring exhaust fans to be ducted directly to the outside rather than to an unventilated roof space. 

(Maybe you live some other place)

Can you post a photo of the window and the size measurements.

Cheers

[blodynlisa]

Thank you.

I was considering replacing this vent with a fan of same dimenions, given this cavity exists. 

Is that enough information to suggest a fan? 

[MitchellMc]

Do you happen to know where that ducting leads or what it is used for @blodynlisa? I would have thought that it already has its own purpose, like for a central ducted air-conditioning.

Mitchell

[AlanM52]

CC: @blodynlisa,

That's a start now we need to:

As @MitchellMc mentioned check if that is Passive (just a plain vent) or Active (connected to a duct pipe).

Do you know if you have a ducted system with a controller mounted somewhere on a wall?

To put that another way:

Do you have other vents like that in your apartment, likely you will have in toilet and kitchen but what about other areas like lounge and bedrooms?

Sorry for all the questions and please come back with that info including photo and size of the window.

Cheers

[blodynlisa]

That is a vent in the bathroom ceiling.

I should add this is a 1971 unit bathroom snd reat of unit has not been renovated, no central air.

[MitchellMc]

It's slightly unusual to just have a passive vent in a bathroom @blodynlisa, so I would still encourage you to have a professional assess whether it would be suitable to exhaust through it. 

There's a possibility that either the HPM 250mm White Square Exhaust Fan, Click 250mm White Ducted Exhaust Fan - Square or even a Click 4 x 275W Silver Ducted 3 in 1 Heater Bathroom Exhaust Fan - Silver could fit that square cut-out. We'd need to know the exact dimensions of the cut-out in order to check whether anything would fit directly. Typically, some adjustment of the ceiling would be required for installation.

Mitchell

[AlanM52]

CC: @blodynlisa,

We live in a inherited 1971 AV Jennings 2 story house and all the original vents were passive.

Alan